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You Will Never Guess What The EPA Might Regulate Next

It’s obvious the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has way too much money to play with.

Following yesterday’s news that the EPA was funding research to reduce air pollution emissions from cooking on propane fired barbecue grills, the latest research grant is aimed at hotel showers.

Researchers at the University of Tulsa were awarded $15,000 to develop a wireless device that will allow water use from showers to be measured and reported to both the hotel guest via a smartphone and to hotel management. According to the grant, hotel guests waste millions of gallons of water each year and it’s hoped that guests will reduce their water use when they realize the amount of water they are using.

The research on propane gas grills involves modifying the barbecue grill design to reduce particulate matter that’s emitted during cooking especially when the fire hits the grease from the food.

The Chemical and Environmental Engineering department at the University of California, Riverside, received $15,000 to develop a two-step process to reduce particulate matter during barbecuing. The fist step involves reducing the amount of grease that hits the cooking flame by temporarily inserting a tray between the meat and grill just before flipping. Since the tray is cooler than the grill surface it will minimize the amount of grease emitted from the meat, resulting in less smoke and particulates released into the air and inhaled by the cook. The tray is removed immediately after the meat is flipped.

The second step involves an air filtration system.

Only the EPA could devise projects that are so detached from reality.

Hotel guests pay a premium for lodging and will resist being spied on by hotel management for water use. In many hotels, a small card is displayed in the bathroom to remind the guests that water conservation is important. Some hotels go a step further and suggest that guests can opt out of having the towels and sheets replaced daily.

Addressing emissions from propane barbecues is even more ridiculous. Backyard cooks are not going to go through an extra step before flipping the meat. Not only does that step increase the possibility of getting burned but the tray also becomes an additional item that needs to be cleaned.

Finally, the elaborate filtration system would add to the cost and maintenance of the grill.

Funding make-work research projects exposes the incompetence and waste at the EPA.

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to co-sponsor the Agency Accountability Act, H.R. 850, introduced by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.). The bill would require federal agencies to deposit revenues collected through fines, fees, or proceeds from legal settlements into the general fund of the Treasury.

FreedomWorks activists got two big wins today. The Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee approved Attorney General Scott Pruitt (R-Okla.), and the Senate Finance Committee approved Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.). These nominees are now headed to the Senate floor for confirmation.

Immediately following the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s vote on Attorney General Scott Pruitt (R-Okla.) for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, FreedomWorks CEO Adam Brandon released the following statement:

Following the conclusion of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on the confirmation of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), FreedomWorks CEO Adam Brandon commented:

Environmental groups have declared war against Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Don't be surprised if Mr. Pruitt's nomination hearing this week degenerates into a three ring circus of obnoxious and disruptive Big Green antics, the new M.O. of the left these days.

FreedomWorks is proudly supporting Scott Pruitt as the nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He has demonstrated his commitment to defending the separation of powers by fighting the EPA for constitutional overreach. He will hold the executive branch accountable when it comes to power and regulations, and will further his consistency in keeping federal intrusion out of the rights of both the states and individuals.